There's plenty to do in Marmaris. Busy beaches, lots of bars and restaurants, plenty of shopping with fabulous bargains if you don't mind wearing fake designer labels. Marmaris has a busy nightlife with a street devoted to dance music and all the high tech clubbing scene. Bar Street is opposite the busy bazzar and will satisfy the most discerning clubbers with it's huge outdoor dance venues and all of the latest tunes.

There's plenty to do in Marmaris. Busy beaches, lots of bars and restaurants, plenty of shopping with fabulous bargains if you don't mind wearing fake designer labels. Marmaris has a busy nightlife with a street devoted to dance music and all the high tech clubbing scene. Bar Street is opposite the busy bazzar and will satisfy the most discerning clubbers with it's huge outdoor dance venues and all of the latest tunes.

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Marmaris has lots for families too. Great inexpesive boat excursions can take you out round the bay and to neighbouring towns like [[Icmeler]] and [[Turunc]] with all inclusive food and drinks all day for as little as 25YTL. Marmaris also has two water parks and local travel agents offer a range of trips to [[Dalyan]], [[Fethiye]], [[Pamukkale]], [[Ephesus]] and other popular locations in [[Aegean Turkey|Western Turkey]]. Another worthwhile trip is to [[Mugla]], the regional capital which can be reached by frequent bus service from Marmaris Bus station (Otogar) for 12YTL. Journey time over the mountains is about 1 hour and is well worth the effort as Mugla is a real Western Turkish town not affected greatly by tourism.

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Marmaris has lots for families too. Great inexpesive boat excursions can take you out round the bay and to neighbouring towns like [[Icmeler]] and [[Turunc]] with all inclusive food and drinks all day for as little as 25 TL. Marmaris also has two water parks and local travel agents offer a range of trips to [[Dalyan]], [[Fethiye]], [[Pamukkale]], [[Ephesus]] and other popular locations in [[Aegean Turkey|Western Turkey]]. Another worthwhile trip is to [[Mugla]], the regional capital which can be reached by frequent bus service from Marmaris Bus station (Otogar) for 12 TL. Journey time over the mountains is about 1 hour and is well worth the effort as Mugla is a real Western Turkish town not affected greatly by tourism.

The town of Marmaris is not just for the package holiday visitor as a trip to the harbour area will confirm. There you can see ocean going yachts costing $10 million and rub shoulders with those who can blow $1000 on a pair of sunglasses in the exclusive upmarket designer harbour shopping area.

The town of Marmaris is not just for the package holiday visitor as a trip to the harbour area will confirm. There you can see ocean going yachts costing $10 million and rub shoulders with those who can blow $1000 on a pair of sunglasses in the exclusive upmarket designer harbour shopping area.

Revision as of 12:01, 8 August 2010

City of Marmaris

Marmaris is a town in Turkey, along the Mediterranean coast in the province of Muğla. It has around 28 000 inhabitants, however the population can be up to 250,000 during the height of the tourist-season.

Contents

Get in

You can get flights to Dalaman, the nearest regional airport which is 100 KM away from Marmaris. Coach transfers are 1 1/2 hours. Airport is served by many operators such as thomsonfly, flythomascook, EasyJet and Turkish airline OnurAir. Transfers are easily arranged on-line and there are frequent bus connections which correspond to the arrival of domestic flights provided by Havas costing 25YTL single. (Havas bus tranfer times are detailed outside the airport terminal building). Tourists from the UK have to buy a Turkish multiple entry visa at the point of entry costing £10 (Bank of England Notes Only) which are valid for 90 days entry and visits of up to 90 days.

You may book your Marmaris transfers on http://www.holidayhoppa.com online , both Cheap Shuttle Bus transfers or Private Transfers, prices from £8 per person perway.

Get around

Cheapest way of getting around is using the dolmus minibuses. These are 11 seaters which travel the main road in Marmaris and Icmeler, the neighbouring resort. The fee is 1.50 TL anywhere in Marmaris and 2.00 TL between Icmeler and Marmaris. Marmaris dolmuses have a green band across them and orange for Icmeler. Other dolmus services serve Armutalan which is a suburb of Marmaris. The Armutalan dolmus has a blue band across them.

You can pick them up from the side of the road by hailing for them and they will stop wherever you want on the route.

Other buses are frequently available and compete with dolmus services. They are slightly cheaper and are council owned buses which are similar in concept but slightly larger than dolmus minibuses.

Taxis are also available on the meter or arranging prices up front but are expensive.

See

Marmaris Castle

There's plenty to do in Marmaris. Busy beaches, lots of bars and restaurants, plenty of shopping with fabulous bargains if you don't mind wearing fake designer labels. Marmaris has a busy nightlife with a street devoted to dance music and all the high tech clubbing scene. Bar Street is opposite the busy bazzar and will satisfy the most discerning clubbers with it's huge outdoor dance venues and all of the latest tunes.

Marmaris has lots for families too. Great inexpesive boat excursions can take you out round the bay and to neighbouring towns like Icmeler and Turunc with all inclusive food and drinks all day for as little as 25 TL. Marmaris also has two water parks and local travel agents offer a range of trips to Dalyan, Fethiye, Pamukkale, Ephesus and other popular locations in Western Turkey. Another worthwhile trip is to Mugla, the regional capital which can be reached by frequent bus service from Marmaris Bus station (Otogar) for 12 TL. Journey time over the mountains is about 1 hour and is well worth the effort as Mugla is a real Western Turkish town not affected greatly by tourism.

The town of Marmaris is not just for the package holiday visitor as a trip to the harbour area will confirm. There you can see ocean going yachts costing $10 million and rub shoulders with those who can blow $1000 on a pair of sunglasses in the exclusive upmarket designer harbour shopping area.

Marmaris is primarily a resort that caters for British holidaymakers but recently has become popular with Russian and other Eastern European visitors.

Do

You can have a daily cruise taking you around the turquoise coves, mountainous shoreline, ruins of ancient cities, and a cave (the only entrance of which is from the sea) surrounding Marmaris. Just take one of yachts (which have a capacity of 20 people) which can be found all along the promenade of city centre, you can easily recognize them by their touts and boards. Book or buy a seat at least one day beforehand. Such an excursion cost about 20 YTL per person in summer 2001 (including a meal, except drinks).

Also, trips to further afield such as Dalyan turtle beach and mud baths, Pamukkale, Lycia etc.

Yacht charter in Marmaris [1] Windward Islands, one of the worlds largest yacht charter companies, can take care of all charter requirements, from bareboat to luxury yacht in the Aegean Sea. Operating from 9 offices worldwide (USA, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Caribbean, Honk Kong and Dubai).

Buy

Lots of shops selling usual tourist fodder as well as local specialities such as Turkish Delight, carpets etc. Most of the branded clothing on offer is fake and is very cheap but the quality can be surprisingly good. Beware of pirate DVDs and games as many will not work despite assurances from vendors.

Real leather can be bought for a good price if you're prepared to bargain.

Hairdressing and beauty treatments are good value but beware of tattoo hygiene issues if you decide to be inked permanently.

For food, there is a large supermarket at the end of the main road before the harbour and marina called Tansas which stocks virtually everything including international brands. Tansas has a sister company caled Migros which has two stores in Marmaris, one at the harbour and another larger store on the main road close to the Marmaris Court building. Another hypermarket is situated on the main road beyond the suburb of Armutalan, Kipa is the Turkish divison of Tesco and offers a huge range of international and own brand products at compeditive prices.

Most tourists enjoy visiting markets in both Marmaris (Armutalan) and Icmeler. The markets sell most of the same things the local shops stock but one can haggle a bit more. Beware of pickpockets in these places. The market in the Armutalan area of Marmaris is on a Thursday and the Icmeler market is every Wednesday.

Tortoises: Beware some unscrupulious Turks try to sell baby tortoises to tourists and encourage them to smuggle them back home in luggage as pets. They will die of course in aircraft holds and can be picked up by airport x-ray machines in hand baggage. It is an offence to attempt to import a tortoise into most EU states as they are an endangered species.

Eat

Many places on the beachfront main road and just off it serving Turkish, English, Dutch and other nationality food. Tends to be cheaper away from the harbour and marina.

Nice restaurants are located on the beachfront promenade.

Proprietors will stand outside establishments and harass you into looking at their menu. Don't be too intimidated and a polite No thank you or Later will put them at bay. Marmaris and Armutalan councils have no tolerance for hassle and have special local police (Zabita) who videotape and close establishments who harass tourists. Most local establishments no longer hassle passing tourists.

Prices are 5-8 YTL for starters, 10-20 YTL for entrees depending on establishment.

Money saving tips: Many places will accept "international" Currencies £$ € these curriences can gain you heavily discounted prices in certain restaurants such as a three course meal for £5 (please note Scottish notes not usually accepted)

If self catering visit the many supermarkets located in Marmaris the larger are Tansas, Migros and Tesco Kipa.

A bottle of water at a hotel can cost anything from 4-8 YTL. A 8 litre bottle of water can be purchased here for 3 YTL. Many of these supermarkets have in store bakeries which produce lovely fresh bread.

Drink

Local beer is served everywhere and is very good, called Efes. Another drink worth trying is Ayran which is a yogurt based drink. Very cooling and good for you.

Also, some establishments stock imported beers such as Becks, Budweiser or Fosters but tend to be more expensive. Wine is very expensive and seems to be all local. Good and common winery is Villa Doluca.

One of the local drinks provided by hotels as an alternative to fruit juice is called 'Tang'. It is manufactured by Kraft and is available in sachets which mixed with water make 1 litre of fruit drink. The sachets cost about 0.40YTL and when varous flavours are mixed make a very inexpesive and refreshing fruit drink.

Nightlife

Marmaris is famous for its fantastic nightlife.

For pre partying drinks many small bars along the beachfront offer the perfect place to watch the warm sun set.

There are a selection of good clubs along the beachfront which play a variety of music and cater to different tastes.

For hardcore partiers Bar street is where the party's at. Located in the old town this street has over 100 bars and clubs ranging from rock bars to Club areena, a huge outdoor nightclub with foam parties. All are open to at least 4AM.

Beware when drinking in Bar Street as prices are much higher (15-20TL for a spirit and mixer) than those along the beach front although entry to most clubs is free and there are periods when there are speaial offers available.

Sleep

Lively hotels can be found generally in Marmaris City Centre

More laid back hotels can be found in the Armutalan area at the back of Marmaris where the local council has banned the playing of music after Midnight. Armutalan council has also banned live entertainment from bars limiting it to hotels.

There is exceptions however so make sure you choose a hotel that suits you.

As with any trip it is advisable to check websites such as trip advisor, for info on your hotel before you book as there can be great differences. All inclusive deals are good value but beware of bed and breakfast and half board as hotels may restrict you bringing food or drinks into their premises making you dependent on their offerings which will be much more expensive than buying from a supermarket. In a very hot climate like Turkey a few drinks each day can add a lot to a holiday cost.

Get out

Ferries and high-speed hydrofoils depart several times a day to Rhodes, Greece.

Turkish Airlines has a store in downtown Marmaris where flights can be booked. OnurAir also fly to several Turkish destinations from Dalaman. Beware: Prices at Dalaman Airport are expensive. A coke costs 10YTL, Large Local Draft Beer 12YTL and a McDonalds/KFC Meal 25YTL. Avoid the expense by taking food/snacks with you from the resort before flying from Dalaman.

Nearby

Two peninsulas jut out from Marmaris into the sea:

The one extending towards southwest, Bozburun Peninsula, has beautiful coves, pine covered mountains and villages. Especially interesting on this peninsula is Kızkumu (literally “Maiden’s Sand”), a sandbar that shuts the entrance of a cove almost completely. It’s located on the western shore of the peninsula, near Orhaniye village. Story has it that a young lady started to spill the sand she gathered into her skirt, while escaping foreigners on one shore of the cove, and also to meet her lover who was waiting at the opposite shore. But the sand hadn’t lasted enough for the entire gap of the cove, so when her sand ran out, in order not to be caught by the foreigners chasing her, she commited a suicide by jumping into the water. Scientists have another explanation, though. Kızkumu’s length is about 1 km, and the sand (or more like reddish finely grained pebbles) is only one ankle under the water surface all along the road, also its width is more than enough for 5 people to walk side by side, so you can easily walk on the top of it (as many other people do). Its ending point is signed by an easily-visible Ionian column, so don’t worry.

On the other peninsula, stretching out to west, lies Datca, a pleasant town, and the ancient city of Knidos on its tip. (see Datca#See)

Akyaka about 20-25 min of driving in the north has a stony-but-beautiful beach, pine forests, and buildings that maintain a lovely local architecture.